Staff Reporter
Premier Sisi Ntombela has promised that all allegations of corruption and maladministration relating to the procurement of goods and services to address the COVID-19 pandemic will be investigated thoroughly in order to bring those who broke the law to account.
She said this when she delivered her State of the Province Address (SOPA) in Bloemfontein on Tuesday.
Ntombela said the provincial government welcomes the initial report of the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) into COVID-19-related procurements and will assist the probe until it is finalised.
“We remain committed to the investigation processes and look forward to the final report,” she said.
“No acts of corruption will be tolerated in our municipalities too.
“A database of fraud and corruption cases reported in municipalities has been created.
“Some of these cases are already being dealt with by law-enforcement agencies.”
The SIU has been investigating allegations of maladministration and corruption regarding procurement by all state institutions across all three tiers of government in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The investigation primarily covers the period of January 1, 2020 to July 23, 2020.
The investigative body however has powers to investigate matters that happened prior and after that period.
Several allegations relating to the awarding of contracts for the supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) and the hiring of some service providers have been investigated by the SIU.
But initial findings do not point to any irregularities in the awarding of those contracts.
Some of the cases have however been referred to relevant authorities such as the SA Revenue Authority for further investigations.
Ntombela said there is mounting pressure on the national government to reduce debt and budget deficit, hence it is important to reduce wastage or any leakages through illicit arrangements between government employees and suppliers.
“. . . we cannot afford any wastage. Initial budget estimations show that we will lose more than R11 billion in the next three financial years. We will have to do more with less,” she said.
“We need to be transparent, effective and accountable to create trust in government.
“This we can achieve only when we are serious about the fight against corruption . . . I have instructed MECs to ensure that public servants doing business with the state… are dealt with accordingly,” said the Premier.